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Race-Baiting Chum-Churning Alive And Well

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By Daniel Ruth

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 16, 2008

Let's cut to the chase right away.

Javon Dawson could have been more armed to the teeth than "Rambo" meets "The Wild Bunch" with a trail of bodies rivaling the Russian invasion of Georgia when he was gunned down by the cops and professional phony Omali Yeshitela, St. Petersburg's answer to Jesse Jackson-lite-lite-lite, would still be whining about police brutality.

Or put another way, Yeshitela, who is about as much of a civil rights leader as Robert Mugabe, has become the "Jaws" of race-baiting chum-churning in St. Petersburg.

Yeshitela, who comes off as more paranoid than Sterling Hayden's Gen. Ripper in "Dr. Strangelove," was at it again this week after State Attorney Bernie McCabe issued a report exonerating St. Petersburg police Officer Terrence Nemeth in the June 7 shooting death of Dawson.

McCabe's investigation supported Nemeth's assertion that he fatally shot Dawson after the 17-year-old fired a weapon at the officer during a party that had spilled outside of a Masonic Lodge. And it was then that Dawson learned the short and unhappy lesson that is never a good idea to shoot at a cop.

DNA And A Gun

In a letter detailing his investigation, McCabe noted witnesses saw Dawson with a weapon. As well, DNA evidence lifted off the .38-caliber handgun matched Dawson's DNA profile. And gunshot residue was found on the dead man's clothing.

At the moment, an investigation into the shooting by the St. Petersburg Police Department is ongoing.

And Gov. Charlie Crist has asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to review McCabe's findings "... to ensure that a complete and thorough investigation was conducted and no additional action is necessary."

However, Yeshitela, who makes the grotesquely self-promoting Al Sharpton look like the thoughtful Bishop Desmond Tutu, pouted that McCabe's findings were "suspicious" and "bogus."

Lead Or Screed?

If anything, it has been Yeshitela and his Uhuru Movement, who have been "bogus" and "suspicious" concerning this case, actively encouraging noncooperation with the investigation into Dawson's death and then complaining about law enforcement's credibility in getting to the bottom of what happened on June 7.

How sleazy is that?

If there has been an emergence of true black political leadership to challenge Yeshitela and the Uhuru's exploitative nattering, it can found among state Rep. Darryl Rouson, Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch and City Councilman Wengay Newton, who joined forces to urge calm within the community.

Rouson has acknowledged the evidence that Dawson was armed the night of his death, urging that this tragedy be used to address the issue of guns and gangs.

And therein can be found the essential difference between Rouson and Yeshitela.

While Rouson sees the death of Dawson as a tragic and powerful symbol of a community riven by too many guns and too little opportunity, Yeshitela once again has used a dead kid as a prop to inflame his own racial intolerance.

While one man leads, the other screeds. Who would you rather trust?

Keyword: Book of Ruth, to read and comment on Daniel Ruth's blog.

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